Silver Taps

Silently they gather, moving shadows
Under restless trees. Tight-lipped boys,
Full by day of rough, true comradeship,
Have nothing to say tonight.
Clustered in hundreds rough the Old Main Building,
They come to bid last “Farewell”
To a fellow Aggie, whose footsteps
Will never tread the campus paths again.
Silently they wait, gazing far up at the dome
Rounded against the midnight sky.
The hour strikes, and four straight young figures
Move to the corners of the turret,
Raising silver trumpets to their lips.
And then, tearing at the heart as does no other sound,
The notes come clear, and sweet, and sad;
Silver Taps for one more Aggie who has gone
To join the bright Battalion in the sky,
Where brave young men need never die.
Then, as the last, long, unearthly note
Fades into the night, the cold, dark silence bursts,
And guns send forth their final, grim salute!
Stand at attention Aggies! Once more we honor them
The Silver Taps Battalion of Texas A&M.